/ SZIRTES HOUSE 2005

New three bedroom dwelling and pool

The site for the Szirtes House is flat, introverted, and without views. Conceptually, we separated the Szirtes House into a series of layers or systems. This helped us to create a spatial strategy for the clients' brief, and for the site. We imagined the site as an abstracted horizontal ground plane, enclosed within the site boundaries. Living spaces occupy the ground plane which seamlessly merge with the garden. Perimeter hedge planting visually extends the perception of the enclosure beyond the walls of the house, and provides privacy to the ground plane. A series of glass sliding doors forms the enclosure of the house on the ground plane. The doors open up from the corners, blurring the relationship between the house and the garden. The spaces of the house are arranged around a north facing courtyard. A Japanese maple tree is located in the centre of the courtyard. Curtains follow the alignment of the glass sliding doors, and allow the client to modulate and compartmentalise the spaces to suit their changing needs. The bedroom volume floats above the ground plane heightening the seamless quality of the living space and garden.